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Tom Snyder

Talk show host, News anchor, Broadcaster

Unscripted and unplugged, late-night talk show host Tom Snyder never tried to get any of his guests to cry on camera. Nor did he ever feign empathy or back away from an argument. If anything, the chain-smoking host of ... Read more »

Unscripted and unplugged, late-night talk show host Tom Snyder never tried to get any of his guests to cry on camera. Nor did he ever feign empathy or back away from an argument. If anything, the chain-smoking host of "Tomorrow" (NBC, 1973-1982) and "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder" (CBS, 1995-99) thrived on sparring verbally with his guests, who ran the gamut from Howard Cosell to Jimmy Hoffa to John Lennon. For the night owls and insomniacs who tuned into Snyder's network talk shows, the rewards were broadcast television at its most intimate and unpredictable. When Snyder told "Tomorrow" viewers to "fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and then watch the pictures now, as they fly through the air," they might see Muhammad Ali telling Snyder, "If I had a lower IQ, I could enjoy this interview." Or be treated to the spectacle of Wendy O. Williams, lead singer of the 1980s-era punk rock group The Plasmatics, blowing up a car onstage. Whether he interviewed heads of state or just plain head cases, like Charles Manson, Snyder did not shrink from expressing his opinions - nor bursting into his signature guffaw, which Dan Aykroyd imitated to merciless perfection on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) throughout his run on the late night sketch comedy.

"Tomorrow" moved to the earlier 12:30 AM time slot, expanded to 90 minutes, added a band, a live audience and gossip columnist Rona Barrett as West Coast co-host

Selected to host NBC's "Tomorrow", the first late, late night network TV talk show aired at 1 AM (EST) after "The Tonight Show", from Los Angeles; premiered October 15th; first topic was group marriage

Quit college for a job as radio and TV news anchor in Savannah, Georgia

Fired after belching on the air and blaming gastric distress on eating at a neighboring Howard Johnson's (that happened to be owned by the station manager)

Not to be confused with the animator of the same name who worked on "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist".

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"During Mr. Snyder's recent appearance on 'Late Show,' Mr. Letterman reminisced fondly about watching 'Tomorrow' after leaving his weatherman job in Indianapolis each night.""'I'd come home, turn on the TV, and suddenly NBC has this wonderful new show,' he said to Mr. Snyder. 'It was you sitting low in your chair, darkly lit, smoke rolling out of your nose. The image and feeling of intimacy was overwhelming."--From "Tom Snyder Reconsidered: Everyman at 57" by Andy Meisler, THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 8, 1994.

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"By the beginning of 1982, 'Tomorrow' was canceled, and within a year or two what most Americans generally remembered most about Mr. Snyder was the needle-sharp impression of him Dan Aykroyd had been doing for years on 'Saturday Night Live'""'I was flattered,' says Mr. Snyder of that impersonation. 'It wasn't a spiteful parody at all. And it was hilarious. What Aykroyd did was very loving. What I did mind was later, when Joe Piscopo did me. Piscopo did me. Piscopo showed me as a failed broadcaster living in a skid row hotel, interviewing the doorman as a guest on my television show. That to me was hurtful, I did better than that.'"--From "Tom Snyder Reconsidered: Everyman at 57" by Andy Meisler, THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 8, 1994.